Sivo bags four in Vegas as coach Arthur makes statement
Scott Bailey |
Brad Arthur has used the biggest stage to stake his claim as the next NRL coach-in-waiting, as Maika Sivo scored four tries in Leeds’ 58-6 flogging of Hull KR in Las Vegas.
With Arthur and Hull KR mentor Willie Peters both considered likely candidates for every NRL job, it was the former who got the honours in the Allegiant Stadium opener on Saturday (Sunday AEDT).
And he did so with the help of one of his former Parramatta flyers, with Sivo scoring two tries in each half in front of a pumping crowd of Super League and NRL fans.
Former NRL half Brodie Croft crossed for a double for Leeds, while Croft’s ex-Brisbane teammate Keenan Palasia also scored.
Hull looked nothing like the team who beat NRL premiers Brisbane to win the World Club Challenge a little over a week ago, before flying to Las Vegas for this game.
And while this was nowhere near as lopsided as the Jillaroos’ 90-4 annihilation of England last year that saw the women’s game cut, this was still dominant.
Sivo was at the centre of most of it in just his second game for the Rhinos, after arriving in England last year and rupturing his ACL.
He scored the first two tries of the game by steamrolling defenders and getting the ball down in the left wing, with his second the kind of try that made him famous at Parramatta.
The Fijian then made a long bust downfield in the lead up to another, before his third and fourth in the second half were more regulation.
Croft also had an afternoon to remember, reminding officials from the 17 clubs in attendance why he was once considered one of the NRL’s best young talents.
The 28-year-old stepped his way over for a try in the first half and scored a second after the break, before throwing a long cut-out ball for Ryan Hall to go over.
It was one of several impressive plays from the half, who last played in the NRL in 2021.
But it is Arthur who appears most likely to return to the NRL as a coach.
Cut by Parramatta in 2024 after nine-and-a-half years at the helm, the 51-year-old has helped turn Leeds back into a genuine contender in the past two years.
Arthur stressed before the match that he was in no rush to return to the NRL, but it’s expected he will be high on the list of candidates for any club that moves on a coach this year.
Papua New Guinea also loom as an option for 2028, with their newly-minted general manager Michael Chammas among those in attendance at Allegiant Stadium.
AAP